2,486 research outputs found
Billiard Systems in Three Dimensions: The Boundary Integral Equation and the Trace Formula
We derive semiclassical contributions of periodic orbits from a boundary
integral equation for three-dimensional billiard systems. We use an iterative
method that keeps track of the composition of the stability matrix and the
Maslov index as an orbit is traversed. Results are given for isolated periodic
orbits and rotationally invariant families of periodic orbits in axially
symmetric billiard systems. A practical method for determining the stability
matrix and the Maslov index is described.Comment: LaTeX, 19 page
Host-parasite coevolution promotes innovation through deformations in fitness landscapes
During the struggle for survival, populations occasionally evolve new functions that give them access to untapped ecological opportunities. Theory suggests that coevolution between species can promote the evolution of such innovations by deforming fitness landscapes in ways that open new adaptive pathways. We directly tested this idea by using high- throughput gene editing- phenotyping technology (MAGE- Seq) to measure the fitness landscape of a virus, bacteriophage λ, as it coevolved with its host, the bacterium Escherichia coli. An analysis of the empirical fitness landscape revealed mutation- by- mutation- by- host- genotype interactions that demonstrate coevolution modified the contours of λ’s landscape. Computer simulations of λ’s evolution on a static versus shifting fitness landscape showed that the changes in contours increased λ’s chances of evolving the ability to use a new host receptor. By coupling sequencing and pairwise competition experiments, we demonstrated that the first mutation λ evolved en route to the innovation would only evolve in the presence of the ancestral host, whereas later steps in λ’s evolution required the shift to a resistant host. When time- shift replays of the coevo-lution experiment were run where host evolution was artificially accelerated, λ did not innovate to use the new receptor. This study provides direct evidence for the role of coevolution in driving evolutionary novelty and provides a quantitative framework for predicting evolution in coevolving ecological communities
The ethics of inherent trust in care robots for the elderly
The way elderly care is delivered is changing. Attempts are being made to accommodate the increasing number of elderly, and the decline in the number of people available to care for them, with care robots. This change introduces ethical issues into robotics and healthcare. The two-part study (heuristic evaluation and survey) reported here examines a phenomenon which is a result of that
change. The phenomenon rises out of a contradiction. All but 2 (who were undecided) of the 12 elderly survey respondents, out of the total of 102 respondents, wanted to be able to change how the presented care robot made decisions and 7 of those 12 elderly wanted to be able to examine its decision making process so
as to ensure the care provided is personalized. However, at the same time, 34% of the elderly participants said they were willing to trust the care robot inherently, compared to only 16% of the participants who were under fifty. Additionally, 66% of the elderly respondents said they were very likely or likely to accept and
use such a care robot in their everyday lives. The contradiction of inherent trust and simultaneous wariness about control gives rise to the phenomenon: elderly in need want control over their care to ensure it is personalized, but many may desperately take any help they can get. The possible causes, and ethical implications,
of this phenomenon are the focus of this paper
New determination of the mass of the eta meson at COSY-ANKE
A value for the mass of the eta meson has been determined at the COSY-ANKE
facility through the measurement of a set of deuteron laboratory beam momenta
and associated 3He center-of-mass momenta in the d+p -> 3He+X reaction. The eta
was then identified by the missing-mass peak and the production threshold
determined. The individual beam momenta were fixed with a relative precision of
3 x 10^-5 for values around 3 GeV/c by using a polarized deuteron beam and
inducing an artificial depolarizing spin resonance, which occurs at a
well-defined frequency. The final-state momenta in the two-body d+p -> 3He+eta
reaction were investigated in detail by studying the size of the 3He momentum
ellipse with the forward detection system of the ANKE spectrometer. Final
alignment of the spectrometer for this high precision experiment was achieved
through a comprehensive study of the 3He final-state momenta as a function of
the center-of-mass angles, taking advantage of the full geometrical acceptance.
The value obtained for the mass, m(eta)=(547.873 +- 0.005(stat) +- 0.027(syst))
MeV/c^2, is consistent and competitive with other recent measurements, in which
the meson was detected through its decay products.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, published versio
Quantum transport and momentum conserving dephasing
We study numerically the influence of momentum-conserving dephasing on the
transport in a disordered chain of scatterers. Loss of phase memory is caused
by coupling the transport channels to dephasing reservoirs. In contrast to
previously used models, the dephasing reservoirs are linked to the transport
channels between the scatterers, and momentum conserving dephasing can be
investigated. Our setup provides a model for nanosystems exhibiting conductance
quantization at higher temperatures in spite of the presence of phononic
interaction. We are able to confirm numerically some theoretical predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Absence of spin dependence in the final state interaction of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta reaction
The deuteron tensor analysing power t_{20} of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta
reaction has been measured at the COSY-ANKE facility in small steps in excess
energy Q up to Q = 11 MeV. Despite the square of the production amplitude
varying by over a factor of five through this range, t_{20} shows little or no
energy dependence. This is evidence that the final state interaction causing
the energy variation is not influenced by the spin configuration in the
entrance channel. The weak angular dependence observed for t_{20} provides
useful insight into the amplitude structure near threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Correlation functions near Modulated and Rough Surfaces
In a system with long-ranged correlations, the behavior of correlation
functions is sensitive to the presence of a boundary. We show that surface
deformations strongly modify this behavior as compared to a flat surface. The
modified near surface correlations can be measured by scattering probes. To
determine these correlations, we develop a perturbative calculation in the
deformations in height from a flat surface. Detailed results are given for a
regularly patterned surface, as well as for a self-affinely rough surface with
roughness exponent . By combining this perturbative calculation in
height deformations with the field-theoretic renormalization group approach, we
also estimate the values of critical exponents governing the behavior of the
decay of correlation functions near a self-affinely rough surface. We find that
for the interacting theory, a large enough can lead to novel surface
critical behavior. We also provide scaling relations between roughness induced
critical exponents for thermodynamic surface quantities.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figure
Critical adsorption near edges
Symmetry breaking surface fields give rise to nontrivial and long-ranged
order parameter profiles for critical systems such as fluids, alloys or magnets
confined to wedges. We discuss the properties of the corresponding universal
scaling functions of the order parameter profile and the two-point correlation
function and determine the critical exponents eta_parallel and
eta_perpendicular for the so-called normal transition.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PR
Testing QCD with Hypothetical Tau Leptons
We construct new tests of perturbative QCD by considering a hypothetical tau
lepton of arbitrary mass, which decays hadronically through the electromagnetic
current. We can explicitly compute its hadronic width ratio directly as an
integral over the e^+ e^- annihilation cross section ratio, R_{e^+e^-}.
Furthermore, we can design a set of commensurate scale relations and
perturbative QCD tests by varying the weight function away from the form
associated with the V-A decay of the physical tau. This method allows the wide
range of the R_{e^+e^-} data to be used as a probe of perturbative QCD.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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